Robins will flock to your garden in December if you hang 22p item
A garden expert has suggested that birds will flock to your garden this month if you hang things on trees. Winter months are a difficult time for animals because they huddle together to spend the winter and try to survive when the mercury drops.
But there are things people can do to support the local wildlife that visits their gardens. Sharing on the GrowVeg YouTube channel, host Benedict said there are several ways to attract more birds, such as robins, to one’s garden. Among the tips he suggested was hanging a coconut from a tree and putting some special ingredients inside.
Benedict explained: “In the colder months our birds really need our help and they especially love high fat foods, really energizing foods to keep them warm. Something like tallow balls with these seeds in them is a really great option. But choose ones without webs because their feet can get caught in them and they can end up on feeders, on the ground or on bird tables. We also have a small coconut half here filled with tallow and it’s really nice to watch the birds from the window. If you can provide it fresh without ice for them to wash and drink too.” water.”
Suet balls are a high-energy food for birds made from a mixture of processed animal fat (suet), grains, and sometimes other ingredients such as mealworms or berries.
The RSPB sells 50 tallow balls for £11, meaning one will cost you 22p. According to the charity Songbird Survival, robins can lose 10% of their body weight in just one cold winter night. They also recommend providing birds with high amounts of feed to give them the energy they need to stay warm when natural food sources become scarce.
Benedict isn’t the only one offering suggestions on how gardeners can help their birds this winter. Fantastic Gardens’ horticulturist Peter Ivanov suggested using leaves could also help entice them.
Known as ‘leaf litter’, making this can create a compost pile that will attract robins, according to British lifestyle magazine and website Woman and Home.
On how this could work, Peter said: Put down the leaf litter. “Leave leaf litter away. Robins look for worms and insects in leaf litter, so avoid cleaning every corner of the garden.
“Start a compost pile. A compost pile provides warmth and attracts invertebrates, a natural robin food source. Stop using pesticides. Chemicals reduce insect numbers. If you avoid these, you encourage more of the natural prey that robins rely on.”
In addition to creating leaf litter, some experts also recommend watering lawns to bring worms to the surface where robins can feed.
Peter also listed other types of food that robins like to feed on and that people can leave out to attract them. He explained: “They will also eat suet, sunflower hearts, soft foods such as raisins soaked to soften them, and fruit such as chopped apples or pears. “Remember that robins are natural ground feeders.
“Robins have a variety of foods they like; mealworms are a particular favorite and they eat them both live and dried.”
